


YouTubeStuck

by collaborational



Category: Homestuck, Youtube RPF
Genre: Other, Someone stop me, good fucking lord what am i doing, sburb AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-18
Updated: 2016-04-10
Packaged: 2018-05-21 10:29:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,156
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6048175
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/collaborational/pseuds/collaborational
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The best people in the world make the worst decision in the world and play the worst game in the world. Nobody is happy with this.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A taste of what's to come.

It was strange. The game had appeared out of virtually nowhere, and the entire world was drawn to it like moths to a flame. It seemed that everybody knew about it, but if you asked anyone about further details, they'd pause for a good five seconds before giving you a helpless shrug. All anyone knew was that it was cheap, promised high graphics and unique gameplay, and featured a multiplayer system.

Naturally, the hype was quickly ignited by social media. Speculations ran high. Fanart was somehow created from what little people could glean from the minimalistic advertisements. People promised to pair up with others online that they didn't even really know. Facebook, Tumblr, Instagram, all of it seemed to be awash in one word: SBURB.

And of course, this uproar did not escape the let’s play community. Something this huge just couldn't be ignored, especially with fans bothering the poor YouTubers left and right to order the game. Promises were made over Twitter and Snapchat and Vine. Commenters begged the internet celebrities to join their sessions, or allow them to join that of the YouTubers. 

Felix Kjellberg, more famously known as PewDiePie, had gotten in contact with several other channel hosters, who had happily agreed to join the multiplayer game he planned on heading. From his inner circle of friends like Cryaotic and CinnamonToastKen, to other popular YouTubers like Markiplier and the Game Grumps, to even non-game focused channels like Dan and Phil, twelve people in all were going to be aiding his exploits.

Of course, this only served to excite the internet even more. Their favorite people in the whole world were going to be experiencing this surely mind blowing game! As a team!!

On the day before official release, post offices around the globe were swamped with packets containing the precious disks. They scrambled to complete the deliveries of the copies. Mixups were likely made. Mistakes happened. The mail services did their best.

But the game held more than anyone could have ever guessed.

The real show, unbeknownst to the entire world, was about to start.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OH GREAT HERE WE FUCKING GO I CANNOT BELIEVE THAT I AM ACTUALLY DOING THIS.
> 
> Anyways... This is not a ship-centric fic. Sorry, Septiplier fandom, I know that ship's what I'm famous for, but you won't find it here!
> 
> I don't know when updates will happen, I still have to create a schedule. But this will start getting chapters soon!


	2. Preset

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pewds and Cry jump headfirst into what they think is going to be another normal recording.

The lights were set, the camera was rolling, and the star of the show was shining as brightly as ever. A smile stretched across his cheeks, his sandy hair swooped across his forehead, and his blue eyes sparkled with a charm unlike anything else. 

He let out a chuckle, beginning to speak. “Haha, how's it goin’, bros? My name is PeeeeewDiePie!” The Swedish man drew out the first syllable of his internet moniker with a grin. 

He continued onwards with the rest of his introduction. “And today, we're going to be playing a new game, just released today as a matter of fact, I got my copy in the mail this morning!” He held up the brown paper sleeves that his two discs had come in. 

“As you all probably know, SBURB is a multiplayer game, so I have with me none other than my fabulous friend, Cryaotic. Say hello, Cry!” 

A quieter, smoother voice came through his headphones from the Skype call Pewds had running. “Hello, Cry.” 

“Oh, very funny,” Pewds snarked, rolling his eyes. “Is there anything you can tell us about this game that I'm not aware of?” 

Cryaotic hesitated before answering, “No, nothing I can think of. The developer is some new game company called What Pumpkin Studios, and SBURB is their very first creation. They've been severely tight lipped about gameplay and mechanics. Looks like we'll have to figure it out as we go along.” 

“Great!” Pewds enthused. “This should be fun then! I have no idea what I'm doing!” 

“You never have any idea what you're doing.” 

The two lapsed into chuckles. 

“Well, there was a little booklet that came in the packet,” Cry pointed out. “It says that to connect, one person has to load the server, and the other has to load the client.” 

“Should be easy enough.” Pewds wiggled his eyebrows. “Care to be my server, Cry?” 

A snort of amusement came through his headset. “Alright, let me get it running. You have the client open?” 

He moused over to the icon on his desktop. A window popped open, showing him nothing but a short jumble of letters and numbers. 

“That's weird,” he mumbled. “p3wD13. Oh, Pewdie! I get it. Heh. Must be some kind of easter egg.” 

“No, it says here I need a special code to connect to my client. That's what it says?” 

“Huh.” Pewds blinked, a little confused. “Yeah, I guess so.” 

“Alright.” He caught the sound of typing as Cry evidently entered the code into the server. “Hey, you remember installing this earlier? Did you have that crazy loading screen too?” 

Pewds remembered the flashing colors and morphing circle all too well. The music that went along with it seemed to complete the experience, and it had given him a strange, apprehensive excitement that hadn't quite gone away. 

Cry spoke once more. “I think I'm in. This window opened. It's… That's odd.” 

“What? What's odd?” 

“I can see you. At your computer. Like… It's really realistic. It looks exactly like you.” There was an unfamiliar tone in Cry's voice. Confusion? Concern? 

...panic? 

“This is… A little bizzare,” he continued. “I think I can move stuff around here. Hold on.” A pause. 

Something was definitely off. Pewds began to feel a familiar nervousness crawling up his spine, a chilling sensation usually only reserved for the spookiest of horror games. He hadn't felt this stressed and nauseated since the last time he'd played Amnesia. 

A loud crash came from somewhere in his house, followed by barking from Edgar and Maya. The noise startled him, making him yelp and jump. “Ah God!” 

“What, what's wrong?” Cry’s uncharacteristically worried voice came from the other end of the Skype call. 

“I heard something!” Pewds craned his neck as he stared back towards the doorway. The door was tightly shut, so he couldn't actually see anything beyond his recording room. 

“What kind of something?” 

“A really loud something. Like a crash.” 

There was a pause. “Did it sound anything like a couch dropping about three feet to the floor?” 

“What kind of question is…?” 

Pewds stuttered to a halt as the door was quite literally torn off its hinges, by seemingly nothing. 

“...WHAT THE HELL?” 

“What? What now?” 

“M-my door…” He couldn't find the words. He was too dazed at what had just occurred. 

“Uh, Pewds?” 

“Yes?” 

“I think… I did that.” 

“What!” That was too ridiculous. He turned sharply back to his computer. “How the fuck could you do that? It's impossible. You're not even here!” 

“Think about it. I can see what looks exactly like your house. In fact, I think that's Marzia heading down the hall now. She was kind of in the living room when I lifted the couch.” 

No sooner had Cry said this than Marzia poked her head through the doorway. “Felix?” 

Pewds stared at her. She looked as shocked as he was feeling right about now. His head was spinning. 

“The… The couch just…” 

“Pewdie? Stay with me.” Cry sounded more worried than ever. “Don't freak out.” 

“Don't freak out,” he repeated. “We just downloaded a game that somehow lets you fuck with my actual house, and you're telling me not to freak out.” 

“We need to stay level headed here.” 

“Other people have installed this game too!” Pewds exclaimed. “Are you telling me that at this very second, MILLIONS of people are fucking with each other’s houses?!” 

“Felix, what's going on?” Marzia’s eyes were wide with undisguised fear. The yapping of the two pugs continued in the background. 

“I… I don't know anymore, Marzia,” he mumbled weakly. “I don't know.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HOH BOY HERE WE GO SHIT IS STARTING TO GO DOWN
> 
> Still no idea about that whole schedule thing. I'll... Get back to you on that.


	3. Preparation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> LordMinion has no clue what's going on.

Wade Barnes couldn’t recall a time in his life where he’d been so utterly confused. 

His Twitter and Tumblr feeds were completely jampacked, and he kept reading that wretched word over and over again. 

SBURB. 

SBURB. 

SBURB. 

Some posts were warnings. Others were encouragement. Still others were nothing but mindless screaming. He was having trouble piecing together what exactly was happening, but the words ‘timer’ and ‘meteor’ were being repeated an awful lot. 

That couldn't be good. 

He looked nervously over to the package he'd received just that morning. The contents of the game were already installed on his computer. Should he delete it? 

To Wade's dismay, an uninstaller was not included. He opened his list of computer programs to manually remove it. But when he tried, he couldn't. What in the world? Had he been given a virus? Had everyone been given a virus? This was bad. 

He moused over to Skype, which was chirping almost incessantly with messages from his acquaintances. 

Mark: wade holy shit have you seen whats happening everything is going nuts 

Bob: Wade don't panic I think we're supposed to play the game 

Jack: I don't know what the hap is fuckening!!! D: 

Ken: Guys I can't reach Felix something is wrong 

Mark: wade i know youre there i can see youre online 

Bob: Okay maybe you should get on YouTube 

Mark: im freaking out 

Mark: wade 

Jack: GOOD GRACIOUS GOD HAVE YOU SEEN PEWDS LIVESTREAM YET 

He raised a concerned eyebrow. Livestream? Felix had never made plans for a livestream. Closing out Twitter and Tumblr, he quickly went over to YouTube and opened the channel of PewDiePie. 

Sure enough, a livestream was running. Millions were already watching. He clicked on it. 

Immediately there was a loud burst of static that made him wince. “Ah shit-” 

“-Cry I don't know what to do here what do I do why is there a thing on the pad-” 

Apparently Felix was using his phone to stream. Which was strange. Wasn't it a game? The sight of the complex machine in the living room and the pugs running around in a tizzy were starting to convince him otherwise. 

A tree was sprouting out of the pad, ghostly and light blue. 

For some reason, Wade was holding his breath. 

A blue fruit dropped from the tree onto the floor. The feed blurred as Felix rushed to pick it up. 

“-Pewds you need to hurry up the timer holy SHIT what is THAT-” 

There was a roar and everything began to rumble. The dogs barked loudly. A voice that Wade assumed was Marzia was yelling to Felix. The scene began to darken as something threw a shadow on everything through the windows. 

Pewds hadn’t turned off the chat, so it was going crazy. Wade caught a glimpse of the responses. 

\- PEWDS MOVE 

\- OH NO DDDDD: 

\- EAT THE FUCKJRGEPWG 

\- IS THAT A METEOR 

\- OMG THE POOR DOGS 

\- he deserves to die 

\- AAAAAAAAAHHHHHH 

\- o__o 

\- Come subscribe to me on my channel! 

\- FELIX NOOOO!!!!!!!! 

Felix was screaming now and Cry was yelling something incoherent. Then the phone was dropped. It bounced sideways, Wade saw a flash of blue as Felix brought something up to his face, the roar was almost 

deafening and- 

The stream went offline. 

He stared, wide-eyed. 

"What the FUCK?"


	4. Paradigm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A short break.

Somewhere in Canada, a fifteen year old boy typed the following URL into his searchbar: 

http://tumblr.com/tagged/SBURB 

The tag was filled with text posts and photographs. Some were blurry snapshots of the sky. Some were in-depth analyses of how the game could possibly work. Some were photos of strange and unfamiliar lands. 

A lot of the posts were hurried questions, or just a lot of caps lock and exclamation points. The boy frowned, starting to feel rather nervous. 

Oh. YouTube links. People were livestreaming their own blind walkthroughs, or linking to those of famous YouTubers. Well, he wasn't one for YouTube, really. He scrolled on. 

Oh, that was one of the people he followed! They were asking for assistance with filling out the newly created wiki for the game. It looked like a couple of other users were already on board. They didn't need his help, that was for sure. 

He continued. Oh, gifsets from the morning news. Meteor showers? 

The boy stood and pulled open his curtains, trying to rub the remaining tiredness from his eyes. Sure enough, little white and gold streaks were shooting across the sky at a constant rate, clearly visible even in the daylight. 

He closed the curtains. “Okay. What. What the fuck.” 

He turned back to his computer and opened up Skype again. There was his friend that had messaged him about the game in the first place. 

contra.nation: yeah wow ok i checked 

contra.nation: like wtf… this is scary 

melodypika13: it’s really fucked up and i’m nervous but you did get a copy right 

contra.nation: uh 

contra.nation: i still need to check the mail 

melodypika13: dO I T 

contra.nation: ok ok please dont rush me 

He switched off his monitor and stood up. His head was spinning. 

As he wrenched open the door, the boy thought to himself that he'd definitely picked the wrong day to sleep in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WE'RE BACK BITCHES  
> don't worry we'll get you right back to your regularly scheduled youtube-flavored insanity soon


End file.
